Jane McGary asked about the status of Merendera. It's now Colchicum, according to Karin Persson, who is pretty well recognized as the arbiter of taxonomy in Colchicaceae, the Colchicum family. Current Colchicum taxonomy is summarized in Persson's "Nomenclatural Synopsis of the Genus Colchicum (Colchicaceae), with some new species and combinations" in the December 2007 Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie. Jane, I have no time to check details but I would not be surprised if your references for "Merendera not" were either by Persson or leaning on her. For those who require a little oxygen, Karin Persson is a botanist at the Göteborg Botanical Garden in Sweden. After years and years of work in field and lab, published bursts, she has been promising for some time to publish a detailed treatment of Colchicaceae in book form. The Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik has considerable whomp. Can anyone suggest a journal in English with the same status? I was thinking perhaps the Journal of the Linnean Society. (Blurt in haste, repent at leisure). Paige Woodward paige@hillkeep.ca http://www.hillkeep.ca/